Blood Talisman
by Gundam Strike-Freedom
Summary: Continuation to the Fullmetal alchemist series. The story takes place 150 years after the Amestris Civil War. The railway that once ran through the desert between Amestris and Xing is rebuilt. A young Xing alchemist arrives at the East City train station.
1. Chapter 1

**Book I: The Alchemist from Xing**

_150 years after the Amestris Civil War-_

_Since the collapse of the homunculus rule in Amestris, the railway that once connected Amestris and Xing began to undergo restoration. Since, it has reduced the travel time between the two countries by 200%. Now, one taking off from Amestris' Eastern Station will arrive in Xing's Western City Station in 15 days. The railway increased trade between the two countries, as well as the mixing of the two types of alchemy present in both countries. This is where the story begins:_

A young man wearing traditional Xing costume arrives at the East City Station in Amestris. He looks up and glares at the sun. The sun was bright. Suddenly he noticed something shiny in the centre of the square in the train station. It was a statue dedicated to a military hero. He walks up to take a better look. The inscription on the bottom of the monument read:

_The Flame Alchemist: East City's Guardian…_

Just as he was reading on, he was interrupted by a street seller.

"Mister, you don't look like you're from around here."

"Yes, I come from Xing."

"Really! Would you like me to recommend you with a hotel?."

"It's ok."

"I insist sir, come along now."

Just as he was being dragged by the vendor, a pair of police shows up. They look in his direction and points at them with their Billy sticks.

"Hey you! Stop right there!"

The street vendor vanishes as soon as he appears. When the policemen catched up, he was the only one who remained. One of the policeman takes out a pair of handcuffs and lock his hands up.

"What are you doing?"

"We're are arresting you on charges of smuggling firearms into the country."

"What?! I'm just a traveler!"

" That's what they all say. You are coming back to the station with us."

"Geez.."

A police van arrives and the two policemen accompany him into the back. They arrive at the local police station in a couple of minutes. They get out, and he is put into a room lit up by a single light bulb.

"Sit down!"

The young man picks a chair out of the two that are there. He puts his hands on the old, dusty table that is in the center of the room. The policemen leave the room and close the door behind them. He rests his head on the table thinking about what had just happened, when he heard:

"Ma'am! The suspect is in the room."

A mature female voice responds.

"Thank you Richards. You can leave now."

The door is opened. A tall, blonde-hair woman with a strict-look enters. She puts her metallic clipboard on the table and sits down on the chair opposite to him. She takes out a pen and readies herself to take notes.

"Name"

"Jin, Jin Li"

"Nationality"

"Xing"

"Do you have a passport?"

He struggles to take out his passport from the inside pocket of his jacket. The woman reaches over and helps him take it out.

"Thanks."

The female officer didn't respond.

"What is the purpose of your trip?"

He froze at this question. He now remembered why he began this journey in the first place….

~Flashback~

_It was a stormy night; a dark shadow entered his room. The shadow blew out the candle in the room. He reaches under his bed for his short dagger that he keeps in case of intruders. The shadow places his hand on the arm Jin is reaching the dagger with. The shadow takes off his ninja mask. _

"_Lang Yao!"_

"_Yes, it is me."_

"_What are you doing here? Do you know the consequences if you are discovered?"_

"_Yes I do, and I know it well. But I have come to you, my childhood friend, the only one that I can trust."_

"_What do you need this time?"_

_Jin knew that Lang often asked him for favors. Lang Yao, being the prince and heir to the throne was almost always confined to the palace. He often asked Jin to bring him new and exotic things from foreign lands for him to amuse himself with. But Jin takes a look at Lang's face. Something was different this time. Lang's eyes bore depression and sadness. _

"_I want you to go to Amestris."_

"_What?! Are you kidding me? No."_

"_Please, you can also use the travel to learn about the Amestris alchemy that you've always wanted to learn."_

"_Ok, but why do YOU want me to go."_

"_Listen, we both know that my uncles and the Grand Bishop want to take the throne after my old man. I don't want that to happen. That's why I want you to go find out what my grandfather used to attain and secure his throne. And bring it back to me."_

" _You mean the legendary Lin Yao? How do you expect me to do that? He went to Amestris over 100 years ago."_

"_I know it's hard, but you have to try. You know that my uncles are planning to wipe out the Li clan, and if they gain the throne, it will happen."_

_Jin thought about the task given to him and finally decided._

"_Alright, but I need a few accessories and a lot of travel funds."_

_Lang knew that he had done the most difficult part, convincing Jin to go to Amestris. So he responded with a half-smile._

"_No problem."_

~End of flashback~

Jin snaps out of his flashback and respond to her question.

"Leisure."

The female officer checks his passport one more time and makes a call. He guessed she had mad it to the Xing embassy in Central City. When she put down the phone, she gave him a smile and said:

"I am sorry, there has been a mistake. You are free to go."

Jin is led out of the police station by the female officer. He walks out onto the sidewalk and looks up at the sky. The sky was dark and starless. Only the moon shone in the center of the darkened sky. The moon was bright, a bit too bright. A grumbling sound brought Jin into reality once more. He walked down the street to look for a restaurant.

End of Book I


	2. Chapter 2

**Book II: Central City**

Jin walks about two blocks and finds a hotel. He enters and approaches the front desk. A mustached employee was there.

"Can I help you sir?"

"I need a room."

The employee gave him a shrug and said,

"I'm sorry sir. We have no more rooms available."

Jin doesn't give up and he asked,

"Do you know anywhere else I can get a room at?"

The employee thought about the question for a moment and replied,

"Yes, although most of the hotels are booked due to tourist season, I know a small bed & breakfast in the suburbs. If you don't mind a little traditional setting, then I can refer you."

"That would be fine."

The employee takes out a piece of paper and scribbles down some street instructions of how to get to the bed and breakfast. After he is done, he hands the paper to Jin. Jin thanked him and left the hotel. Jin followed the instructions to a quieter side of town. All of the sudden, the silent night was broken with a loud female scream. Jin follows the voice to the source and sees three men harassing a black-haired teenage girl. He hides behind some bushes to watch.

"What do you want?" asked the girl.

None of the men responded. One of the men reached for the girl's opened collars, while another held the girl from behind. Jin then understood what was going on. He wants to help, but he doesn't want to interfere with other people's businesses, especially with criminals. Jin doesn't want to expose himself and get in trouble with the police again. He knew that if his arrival was discovered by the men working for the Grand Bishop, then his family would be arrested and executed. But it seems as luck was on the side of the girl. An owl flew by the bushes that Jin was hiding behind, and one of the men sees Jin's shadow. One man approaches with a knife in hand walking straight for the bushes, while one other men approached from the other side. Jin didn't have anywhere to hide.

"Come out!", ordered by the man holding the knife.

Out of no where, a pair of hair-thin needles plucked themselves onto each of the men's bodies. Then Jin rushed at the man holding the knife. The man wanted to move his legs to avoid the attack, but found his legs to be rooted to the ground. He then wanted to put his arms up to defend himself, but found his arms to be frozen. Jin reaches to where the man was standing at and knocks him out with a blow to the neck. The second man tried to scream, but a third needle was inserted into his collarbone. His lips became numb. Jin kicks the man horizontally on the neck to knock him out.

"Two down, one more.", thought Jin.

The last man was pointing something at Jin and then pointing it at the girl. Jin realizes that the man was holding a pistol. Jin throws a needle right into the barrel of the gun. However, the needle thrown this time had a small slip of paper attached to it. Jin exposes his left arm and presses his right hand on a tattooed circle. As soon as the circle began to glow, the small circle on the slip of paper attached to the needle glowed as well. Suddenly, a stream of electricity is passed through the gun and onto the man's hands, electrocuting him. The metallic barrel of the pistol had acted like a conductor of electricity. Jin covers his left arm and began to walk away.

"Thank you."

Jin realizes the girl was thanking him for saving her. He stops and turns around and sees the girl smiling at him. He remembered something that Lang used to say.

~Flashback~

_Lang: Come on Jin, if you are always so uptight and unfriendly, you will never find a girlfriend._

_Jin: Well, it's better than becoming a playboy like you._

_Lang: Well, at least I can become a playboy. Listen Jin, when girls smile and act nice towards you, try to be nice to them in return. Trust me._

~End of Flashback~

Jin doesn't know why he decided to follow Lang's advice now, but his lips moved faster than his brain worked. He smiled back and replied,

"Are you ok?"

The girl jogs towards Jin and puts out her hand.

" My name is Liza, what's your name?"

Jin wondered which mystical force was making him to act this courteous.

"Jin."

"That's a unique name, are you from abroad?"

They were walking down the path. Jin had finally gotten a good look at the girl. Liza had brown eyes, black-haired and seemed to be aged around 16 or 17.

"Yes, I'm from Xing."

"How old are you?", asked by the girl.

Jin looked at Liza again and thought that no girl in Xing would ever act the same as she would. Xing girls were brought up learning that it is un-lady like to ask a man so many questions. Jin then realizes that he was in Amestris, and this must be one of Amestris' customs. So he answered,

"I'm 18."

As they continued walking, Jin realizes that they are walking exactly by the instructions given by the employee. Soon, they reach a house with a small sign saying: _R&R Bed&Breakfast_

Jin wondered why the girl had brought him here, so he asked,

"What is this place?"

The girl opens the door and says,

"Come in, this is my house."

Jin follows the girl in and finds a large entrance hall with several antique looking pieces of furniture. A tall and skinny middle-aged man approaches them. Liza gives the man a hug and introduces Jin.

"Daddy! This is Jin. He saved me from those gangsters from the South Side of town. He's not from around here, so I wondered if we can give him a room to stay in."

The man smiled and responded,

"Of course my dear. Any friend of Liza is a friend of the whole family."

Liza then turned around to Jin and said, "Come on, I'll take you to your room."

Liza leads Jin upstairs and onto the second floor. She introduced the house for Jin.

" The house has three floors. The first floor is the dining room and recreation room. The second floor is the guest rooms. My family lives on the third floor."

Liza opens a door for Jin and leads him in. It was an old room. It had an individual washroom. The bed was like one of those wooden antique beds with over 5 sheets and 10 pillows.

"Make yourself at home. I know you're tired, so I'll bring up some food to you later."

As soon as she has left the room, Jin decides to take a shower. A warm bath would help him clear up his head and help him focus on the task before him. After taking his shower, he lied on the bed thinking about his homeland, Xing. The great and mystical land of the Orients. Xing's boundaries expanded from the West desert to the East Sea. Just as he was daydreaming off about the forests of Xing, the door opened. Liza entered with a tray of food. Jin looks at the food and recognizes some of it, but some didn't come to his head.

Liza saw Jin's confused looks and said,

"It is just some home-styled food, pasta, sautéed fish, seasoned mashed potatoes, and marble cake. I hope you are used to this food."

Jin picks up his fork and stabs it into a piece of fish and responded,

"Smells great, I'm sure it tastes great as well."

Jin was wrong. Although the food looked and smelled normal, the taste was definitely not normal. It tasted like months-old cheese with mothballs. Jin kept his manners and forced himself to swallow the first bite.

Liza smiled at him and said,

"How was it? I made it for you. My dad is usually the chef, but I told him that you saved my life, and I think the only way to pay you back, is to cook for you personally."

Jin forced a smile and put down the plate. His left sleeve is brushed up by the tray and parts of his tattoo are exposed. Liza saw this and asked,

"Is that what you used to save me? That's an alchemy transmutation circle right?"

"No, it is different. Although Xing alchemy and Amestris alchemy shares the same concepts, it is very different."

"What do you mean?" said Liza with a puzzled look.

"Well, remember how I threw that needle with the alchemy circle on it into the barrel of the gun?, Well, the needle were made out of steel, and I decomposed the steel to separate all the carbon atoms from the metallic atoms. This caused a friction effect, allowing tiny bolts of electricity to be made. Then I enlarged the effect and shocked the man."

"Isn't that the same concept as Amestris alchemy?"

Jin responded,

"Yes, but the difference is, I take the energy from conducting my alchemy from tectonic movements, while your alchemy takes it from some other source of energy."

Suddenly, Jin thought of something, so he asked,

"Liza, do you know the source of alchemic energy in Amestris?"

Liza thought about the question and responded,

"None of the alchemists I knew ever wondered about the source of the energy they use to conduct alchemy. But I'm sure that the 1st Library in Central City will have some books on it."

Jin and Liza talked for another hour. However, they drew their conversation away from alchemy and towards Xing. Liza asked many questions about Xing, and to his own surprise, Jin answered all her questions. After Liza had left, Jin made his plans for the next day in his notebook: _Travel to Central City._

End of Book II


	3. Chapter 3

**Book III: A Familiar Face**

The next day Jin told Liza about his plans to go to Central City. She offered to come with him, but he declined, saying that her parents would be worried about her if she leaves home for a long trip. With that, Liza ran up to her room and didn't even come out to say good bye to Jin. Jin didn't know why, but he bid farewell to Liza's family and called a cab to the train station. He bought his ticket and found his seat on the train. It was midday when the train attendant announced that lunch would be served in the dining car. Feeling a little hungry, he made his way to the dining car. He picked a single seat near the corner of the dining car. He ordered a sandwich and a cup of tea. Just then, another person sat down in the seat beside him. There was a faint smell of cherry blossoms. Jin recognizes the scent and looks up at the person to confirm his guess; and he was right.

"Mei?", asked Jin.

The person turned around, it was a young girl about the same age as Jin was. She had hazelnut colored hair and black eyes. Instead wearing the traditional clothes like Jin, she had worn office lady attires. The girl's eyes widened as she saw Jin's face.

"Jin?! What are you doing here?"

"I'm…"

He had to think fast to make a lie that will convince her.

"..here to study Amestris alchemy. It's sort of like a exchange program thing."

The girl seemed to believe him, so Jin asked her,

"What have brought you here?"

"I'm going to my job at the embassy in Central."

Jin nodded and couldn't think of anything else to talk to her about. Mei was Lang's cousin. Mei's parents are both high ranking officials in the court and she had been brought up like a princess. Jin knew that his status did not allow him to even speak with her, but his friendship with Lang often allowed him into the Forbidden Palace, where all the royal family members live. The first time he had seen her, she was like an angel, from the heavens. His heart pounded up and down, and his body would not listen to him. He finally got to know her officially when the Emperor awarded him the rank of captain of the Royal Guards. It was a pretty decent rank, but nothing compared to the ranks of Mei's parents. However, it was enough for Lang to host a celebration party for him and invited all his friends and family friends, which included Mei. Lang introduced them to each other, but after Lang left them two alone, they could not start a conversation. Jin thought she would never even put her eyes on him.

"Sir, your food."

A waiter had brought Jin's order, and Jin had the excuse to not talk. He quickly ate his lunch and gave an official military bow to Mei. Mei giggled at this. Jin blushed and sprang out of the dining car. Jin reached his seat and sat there for the rest of the trip. The train arrives and he didn't want to be discovered by Mei, so he ran to the road and called for a cab. A cab pulled over and he go on.

"Where to?"

Jin thought and said,

"A hotel near the First Central library."

The cab driver turned around and looked at him.

"Alright sir, you don't look like you are from around here. Why are you interested in the First Central Library?"

"I'm here to study Amestris' alchemy.", replied Jin.

"Too bad."

"Why?"

"Well, the First Library was robbed yesterday, several of the most valuable alchemy artifacts were stolen."

Jin was shocked at this news. He asked,

"What was stolen?"

The cab driver seemed like a pretty nice guy who is pretty talkative.

"Do you know the Blood Talisman? The artifact left behind by the Legendary Full Metal Alchemist? That was stolen. As well as some alchemy books on the Philosopher's Stone were stolen. The police said the thieves used some type of unknown alchemy."

Jin listened and asked,

"Why do you say thieves?"

"Well it's impossible for one person to have taken all that stuff and knock out all the guards in just ten minutes."

Now Jin was sure that he knew what alchemy was used by the thieves. It was a traditional Xing martial arts called Wind Walking, combined with Renjitsu. Wind Walking allowed the user to travel extremely fast and in silence, while Xing alchemy could be used by sending projectiles at all the guards at once, to knock all of them out. However, there weren't many people who could master Wind Walking. It was a technique passed down from the great martial master of the South. The only copy of the technique manual is located in the Royal Palace. The cab stopped and broke his train of thoughts.

"Here we are. Central's finest. The Grand Ritz Hotel."

Jin paid the cabman and entered the hotel. A bellboy immediately carried Jin's bag for him and led him to the front desk. A smiling employee greeted him,

"Good afternoon sir, can I help you?"

"I need a room for one, for three days."

Jin thought inside his head the cost of all this, but he remembered that Lang had given him the password to the Royal family's bank account reserved for officials traveling abroad. He thought that might as well enjoy himself, so he added,

"Make that a Suite room."

"Certainly sir."

The employee handed Jin his room key and beaconed the bellboy to show him his room. The room was on the top floor of the hotel. After the bellboy had put his bag in the room, Jin tipped him and closed the door. He looked at his clothes and realized that he needed to blend in more with the majority of the population. He called front desk and asked for directions to the nearest tailor's shop. Several minutes later, he arrived at the tailor's shop. He ordered a custom suit to be made for him and after measuring his body size, the tailor said that the suit will be delivered to his hotel in 2 days. With that, Jin left the shop and wanted to go see the First Library. He walked to the front doors of the library and notices the crowd of police officers there. They were circled around a single person. The person was drawing a circle on the ground and pressing his hands on the circle. The circle gave out a blinding amount of light and after the light ceded, the surrounding ground had sank. The alchemist explained,

"I removed the top layer of the ground to find the foot prints that were left here yesterday. Although they could have covered their prints, they cannot cover the force exerted into the ground when they step on it."

The alchemist points out at the newly appeared marks on the ground. There was only a pair of marks leading to the window of the library. Jin knew that he had been right. There was only one culprit. The policemen and the alchemist continued to investigate the area, but Jin got his prove. The culprit was from Xing.


End file.
